Got Wood?

Got wood?

Yes that’s what my new bumper sticker from Sequoia National park says. This year we decided to forego the usual fireworks displays for July 4th and instead my Cousins family invited me to join them and my Uncle for a trip to see the trees. It felt good to get out of the warm valley where it was starting to finally feel like summer and escape to the cool mountains. Since this was such a popular destination this time of year the campground at Lodgepole was booked but my Uncle managed to snag us a couple reservations at nearby Dorst creek.

Right after breakfast Nick spotted all these caterpillars gathered in the nearby bushes so I ran over to take a few pictures.

caterpillar

communal cocoon

There sure were a lot of them…

After that we hopped on a motion sickness inducing ride- the park shuttle. At least it was for Nick who vowed no more shuttle rides. We got off at the visitor center and then decided to hike out to Tokopah falls. I was excited to see what the trail looked like in summer since the last time I hiked it, it was covered in snow!

With snow on the trail

Trail, now where’d all that snow go?

Along the trail we were lucky enough to come across some folks who had spotted a grouse with chicks!

Grouse

curious chick

We continued onto the waterfall and arrived at around midday, sadly there isn’t much shade amidst the rocks by the falls so we beat a hasty retreat back into the shady woods to enjoy our lunch.

Kelley’s lily.(Lilium kelleyanum) along the trail.

Tokopah falls

We had a nice hike back, enjoying the scenery, wildflowers along the trail and even a deer that crossed the trail. We enjoyed an ice cream at the visitors center and then it was back to our camp for a campfire to roast marshmallows on.

Trees

The next day we headed out to visit some of the famous trees in the park, we started out with a walk through the General Sherman Grove.

Then after a stop for lunch at a nearby picnic site where we were visited by another deer, we went on to visit the sentinel tree and tour the giant forest museum.

Marvin and I walked around Beetle rock to admire the view before we headed back to camp again.

deer

beetle rock

That night we had a lovely campfire and roasted even more marshmallows! Most of which did not burst into flames but were toasted a lovely golden brown. All too soon it was time to head back to town.

It was a great fourth of July even without fireworks.